Students held at gunpoint, then released

RANCHO SAN DIEGO  Two teenage brothers were pulled over at gunpoint outside Hillsdale Middle School in Rancho San Diego Thursday when sheriff’s deputies thought they were in a stolen car.

The school went on lockdown until deputies discovered that the car belonged to its driver, a Cuyamaca College student, but the license plates did not.

“His two plates had been stolen and the thief put on two other plates that were reported stolen,” sheriff’s Sgt. Carlos Medina said.

Medina said a deputy assigned as college campus security ran a computer check on the Honda Accord’s plates, which were in the system as stolen. He asked for help in stopping the driver shortly before 9 a.m.

The driver pulled over on Brabham Street near Avenida Apolinaria and he and his young brother, a Hillsdale student, were ordered out of the car at gunpoint, Medina said. He said they were handcuffed while deputies questioned them, then they were released within 10 minutes.